Apparatus for forming a tunnel



Sept. 21, 1965 H. P. CERUTTI 3,206,824

APPARATUS FOR FORMING A TUNNEL Filed Feb. 15, 1963 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 vINVENTOR.

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Sept. 21, 1965 H. P. CERUTTI APPARATUS FOR FORMING A TUNNEL 3Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 15 1963 INVENTOR. fiver R 652m? M r UH Sept.21, 1965 H. P. CERUTTI APPARATUS FOR FORMING A TUNNEL Filed Feb. 15,1965 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 WWW m M W W 6 4 R w kw United States Patent3,206,824 APPARATU FOR FORMING A TUNNEL Henry P. tCerutti, San Antonio,Tex., assignor, by mesne assignments, to October Corporation, GrandPrairie, Tex., a corporation of Texas Filed Feb. 15, 1963, Ser. No.258,730 4 (llairns. (Cl. 25131.6)

This invention relates to an apparatus for forming a tunnel and relatesmore particularly to a combination of a traveler means having a needlebeam telescopically mounted thereon and adapted to move elements of afull round form during a form setting operation and a conveyor meanscarried by the needle beam adapted to transport muck from a miningmachine located forwardly of the traveler means to a muck car locatedrearwardly of the traveler means.

As conductive to a better understanding of the instant inventive conceptit should be understood that in the forming of a tunnel, particularlywhere the earth or clay through which the tunnel will pass iscomparatively soft and unstable it is necessary for the mining andconcreting operations to be carried out consecutively, either underatmospheric or superatmospheric pressures. In other words, one shift ofworkers will mine approximately 50 feet of tunnel clay and the followingshift will place the forms and pour the concrete to immediately supportthe area mined by the previous shift.

It has been conventional heretofore to use a collapsible full round formmade of a plurality of collapsible upper arch forms and a plurality ofcollapsible lower invert forms carrying tracks to support the travelermeans for movement through the tunnel. The portions of the forms locatedrearwardly of the traveler means where the con creting operation hasbeen completed may be folded up and rolled or telescoped through thetraveler means to a forward portion of the tunnel where they may beexpanded and repositioned to provide means for further concreting andtracks for forward movement of the traveler means. The apparatus that iscurrently in use requires that each of the mining or muck cars be runthrough the forms and through the traveler means up to the point whereit receives the muck directly from the mining or mucking machine. Thisnecessitates the decking of the tunnel floor in the already finishedsection, as well as laying a deck through the forms with necessaryswitches. It also makes necessary the coupling and uncoupling of cars sothat one car at a time can be brought up to the mining machine toreceive muck. The singly loaded muck cars are then pushed rearwardly byhand through the traveler means, through the forms that have beenconcreted, back on the decked-over tunnel floor and switched singly tobe made up into a train which is then hauled back to the portal or shaftfor lifting out of the tunnel.

It is a primary object of the instant invention to provide an improvedapparatus for forming a tunnel which is sturdy and durable inconstruction, reliable and efficient in operation, and relatively simpleand inexpensive to manufacture, assemble, utilize and maintain.

Another object of this invention is the provision of a tunnel formingapparatus wherein the traveler means includes a telescopically mountedneedle beam means which may serve as a conveyor during the miningoperation and without necessitating structural changes, may also serveas a means to move and position the form elements during the formsetting operation.

A further object of this invention is the provision of a needle beamconveyor which may be permanently mounted on a conventional travelermeans and which will not increase either the lateral or vertical spaceneces- 3,235,824 Patented Sept. 21, 1965 sary for movement of thetraveler means through the tunnel.

A still further object of the instant invention is the provision of animproved tunnel forming apparatus including a traveler means having aneedle beam conveyor made up of a pair of laterally spaced I beamsslidably supported on the traveler means for telescopic movement withrespect thereto and a conveyor means mounted between the I beams fortransporting muck through the traveler means from the mining machine tothe muck cars.

Another object of this invention is to provide an ap paratus of the typedescribed wherein the needle beam slidingly supports a hoist meansadapted to collapse the lower or invert portions of said full roundform, transport the same forwardly through the traveler means andreposition the invert forms for further concreting operations.

Another object of this invention is the provision of such an apparatuswherein the traveler means includes hydraulic cylinders adapted to stripthe upper or arch portions of the full round form, transport the sameforwardly in the tunnel and reposition the arch forms for furtherconcreting operation.

A further object of the instant invention is the provision of anauxiliary conveyor means to transport the muck from the mining machineto the needle beam conveyor.

Another object of this invention is to provide an auxiliary conveyormeans to transport the muck from the needle beam conveyor to the forwardend of a line of muck cars.

Other and further objects reside in the combination of elements,arrangement of parts and features of construction.

Still other objects will in part be obvious and in part be pointed outas the description of the invention proceeds and as shown in theaccompanying drawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary top plan view of an improved tunnel formingapparatus in accordance with the instant inventive concept, showing thetraveler means turning a curve in the tunnel and showing in dotted linesportions of the auxiliary conveyor means at each end of the needle beammeans;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view looking rearwardly andtaken through the forward end portion of the needle beam means of atraveler means in accordance with this invention passing through arelatively straight portion of the tunnel, with a collapsed invert formand a collapsed arch form shown in carrying position in dotted lines;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged fragmentary side elevational view of the centralportion of the traveler means taken substantially on line 33 of FIGURE1, also showing a collapsed invert form and a collapsed arch form incarrying position in dotted lines;

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged fragmentary side elevational view of therearward end portion of the needle beam means including a conveyor meansin accordance with the instant invention, showing the use of the needlebeam means in lifting and collapsing an invert form;

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged fragmentary side elevational view of therearward end portion of the needle beam means, similar to FIGURE 4, butshowing the use of the conveyor means for transporting muck through thetraveler means and including in dotted lines an auxiliary conveyor tocarry the muck from the rearward end of the needle beam conveyor to atrain of muck cars;

FIGURE 6 is an enlarged fragmentary side elevational view of the forwardend portion of the needle beam means including a conveyor means inaccordance with the instant inventive concept, showing the repositioningof an invert form for further concreting operation;

FIGURE 7 is an enlarged fragmentary side elevational view of the forwardend portion of the needle beam means, similar to FIGURE 6, but showingthe use of the conveyor means for transporting muck through the travelermeans including in dotted lines an auxiliary conveyor for carrying themuck from a mining machine to the needle beam conveyor; and

FIGURE 8 is an enlarged transverse cross-sectional view through aportion of the traveler means showing the detailed construction of theneedle beam means and its associated conveyor means in accordance withthe in stant invention.

'Like reference characters refer to like parts throughout the severalviews of the drawings.

Referring now to the drawings, reference numeral 10 generally designatesa tunnel-shaped carriage or traveler means having a needle beam means 12 telescopically mounted thereon, which needle beam means .12 carries aconveyor means 14 in accordance with the instant invention. The tunnelbeing formed is indicated generally by the reference numeral 16 and isshown as curved in FIGURE 1 merely to illustrate that the tunnel may beof any desired shape. Earth or muck 18 is removed forwardly or to theright of the traveler means 10 by a mucking or mining machine (notshown). A plurality of muck cars 20 are provided to remove the minedearth or muck from the tunnel 16 by transporting the same rearwardlyover the completed portion of the tunnel floor to the portal or shaft(not shown) for lifting out of the tunnel .16.

The full round form is indicated generally at 22 and is comprised of aplurality of collapsible lower invert arch form members and a pluralityof collapsible upper arch form elements, shown in expanded or concretingposition in full lines at 24 and 26 respectively, and in collapsed orcarrying position in dotted lines at 24' and 26, respectively. The archform members 24, at least two in number, are arranged in side by sideabutting relation and are connected together along their adjacent edgesfor hinged movement toward and away from each other. The upper arch formelements, also at least two in number, and here illustrated as three innumber, are arranged in side by side relation and are connected togetheralong adjacent side edges for hinged movement toward and away from eachother.

The traveler means 10 is comprised basically of an inverted U-shapedarch support means 28 at each end having a plurality of upwardlyextending laterally spaced legs 30 and an overhead member 32 dimensionedto carry one section of the arch form 26 when it is collapsed. Aplurality of vertically spaced longitudinally extending channel members34 and a plurality of vertically and angularly extending reinforcingmembers 36 are secured to each other and to the arch support means 28 tocomplete the basic structural elements of the traveler means 10. Otherreinforcing means such as plates 29 may be provided as needed. Each ofthe arch support means 28 is mounted on a truck or the like 38 having aplurality of wheels 40 ridingly received on rails 42 which form anintegral part of each invert form 24 as clearly seen in FIGURE 2. Thetrucks 38 may swivel with respect to the longitudinal axis of thetraveler means 10 as indicated in FIGURE 1 to allow the entire structureto move around curves in tunnel 16. One of the trucks 38 has aconventional drive means such as a hydraulic pump and an electric motoroperatively connected to the wheels 40 to drive the same as indicatedschematically at 44 in FIGURE 3. Thus, the entire traveler means 10 maybe moved forwardly or rearwardly in the tunnel 16 on the rails 42 of theinvert forms 24.

A plurality of hydraulically-operated lift cylinders 46 or the like areprovided at each end of the traveler means 10 in association with thearch support means 28 and a plurality of hydraulically-operated swingcylinders 48 or the like are provided on each side of the traveler means10 to lift and expand the collapsed arch form 26 which is formed inthree sections hinged at 50, 50 and which has any conventional means(not shown) engageable with the swing cylinders 48 in an obvious manner.These same lift and swing cylinders 46 and 48, respectively, may be usedto collapse the arch form 26 and lower it onto the traveler means 10 forrepositioning.

Each of the overhead members 52 of the arch support means 28 carries twopairs of depending support members 52 having rotatably mounted rollerbearings 54 at their lower ends for sli-dingly carrying the needle beammeans 12. This needle beam means 12 includes a pair of laterally spacedapart I beams 56 having vertically extending elongated central webmembers 58 and sub stantially horizontally extending upper and lowerflanges 6t) and 61, respectively. The upper flanges 68 have lowersurfaces which are slightly angular to facilitate sliding support on theroller bearings 54. The lower flanges 61 have upper surfaces which aresimilarly slightly angular to facilitate slidingly supporting aplurality of hoisting means 62 which have associated therewith two pairsof upwardly extending support arms 64 each carrying rotatably supportedroller bearings 66 for riding on the lower flanges 61 of the I beams 56.The hoisting means 62 can be of any conventional form, illustrativeembodiments being shown in FIGURES 2 and 8. These hoisting means 62 canbe used to collapse, transport and reposition the invert forms 24 in amanner to be more fully described hereinafter and can also be used tomove rib steel, tunnel support steel and tunnel support lumber throughthe forms forwardly towards a heading to support the freshly mined muck.

The invert for-ms 24 are formed in two sections hinged at 68 and havecollapsing means 70 which when lifted by the hoisting means 62 fold theinvert forms to the collapsed position 24'.

A needle beam drive means is shown schematically at 74 in FIGURE 3 andis provided to move the needle beam 12 by sliding the upper flanges 60of the I beams 56 on their roller bearings 54 in any conventionalmanner. Likewise, a drive means (not shown) of any conventional form maybe provided to slide the hoisting means 62 on the lower flanges 61 ofthe I beams 56 in an obvious manner.

It is to be understood that for the most part the details ofconstruction of the traveler means 10 and the associated full round form22 are not the essence of the instant invention, but that thecombination of the aforementioned traveler means 113 with thehereinafter described conveyor means 14 form the basis for the inventiveconcept. Thus, construction details of the traveler means 10 have beenset forth only insofar as is necessary for a comprehensive understandingof the improved tunnel digging apparatus.

The needle beam conveyor means 14 is mounted directly between the Ibeams 56 of the needle beam means 12 and will provide the mucktransporting function without the necessity of constant assembly anddisassembly and without requiring additional area in which to operatethe traveler means 10. The construction of the conveyor means 14 is onlycritical insofar as it is designed particularly for use in combinationwith the needle beam means 12 and therefore must be made to conservespace while producing an efficient transportation of muck.

A preferred form of conveyor means 14 is shown particularly in FIGURES 2and 8 and is comprised of an endless flexible belt 76 having an upperpass 78 and a lower pass 80 slidingly supported on a plurality of spacedupper catenary idlers 82 and lower return idlers 84, respectively. Thecatenary idlers 82 are mounted on support elements 86 suitably spacedand secured preferably exterior to the I beam web members 58 in anyconventional manner. Similarly return idlers 84 are rotatably supportedon support elements 88 secured internally of the web members 58 of the Ibeams 56. Suitable continuous laterally spaced splash plates 90 aresecured by braces 92 to the I beam webs 58 and act to retain the muck 94on the upper pass 78 of the belt 76. The endless belt 76 is trainedrover rotatably mounted rollers 96 or the like at each end of the needlebeam means 12 and a conventional drive means 98 is provided at one endto maintain the endless belt moving when desired.

At the forward or loading end of the needle beam conveyor means 14 anadditional pair of laterally spaced sideboard-s .100 in the form .of ahopper or the like may be provided as shown in FIGURES 6 and 7 tofacilitate receiving the muck from the mining machine (not shown) orfrom an auxiliary conveyor means .102 shown in dotted lines in FIGURE 7which carries the muck from mining machine in the direction of thearrows and dumps the same onto the needle beam conveyor means 14 withinthe sideboards 100.

An additional auxiliary conveyor means 104 may be provided at therearward end of the needle beam conveyor means 14 to receive the mucktherefrom and carry it rearwardly in the tunnel 16 so that additionalmuck cars 20 may be included in the train. Of course, it is apparentthat the needle beam conveyor means 14 may receive the muck directlyfrom the mining machine (not shown) and may carry it directly to one ofthe muck cars 20 if the operation is comparatively small and theauxiliary conveyors 102 and 104 are not necessary.

The use and operation of the improved apparatus for forming a tunnelwill now be apparent. During the mining shift, the mining machine (notshown) will dig earth or muck from the forward end of the tunnel 16 andwill dump the same either onto the auxiliary conveyor means 102 ordirectly onto the needle beam conveyor means 14. The traveler means willremain stationary during the entire mining operation and the needle beam12 is moved forward during the mining operation to stay With theadvancing mining machine. A plurality of the muck cars are positionedbeneath the needle beam means 12 with the rearwardmost car (not shown)either directly under the rearward end of the needle beam conveyor 14 orunder the rearward end of the auxiliary conveyor 104 to receive themuck. After the rearwardm ost car has been filled the train movesrearward in the tunnel 16 one car length and fills the next car, in astepby-step process until the full train is loaded. The loaded trainthen moves rearward in the tunnel 16 over a passing switch (not shown)and allows a second train (not shown) to pull in immediately forloading. This, of course, eliminates the time and manpower necessarywith prior art structures wherein each muck car was brought up throughthe traveler means to the mining machine and then pushed back by handand switched singly to make up a train to be hauled back to the portalor shaft for lifting out of the tunnel.

The traveler means 10, without modifications, m y be used in thesubsequent shift to concrete the portion of the tunnel 16 previously dugby the mining machine. The traveler means 10 is moved forward until itsrearward end has passed the rearwardmost invert form 24 and the hoistmeans 6 2 are then moved rearwardly on the lower llanges 60 of the Ibeams 5' 6 until they are positioned over the rearwardmo-st invert form.The operator (not shown) stands on a platform 106 and has access to acontrol box 108 to operate each of the driving elements of the travelermeans 10. Control means 110 extend from the hoist means 62 through aflexible means 112 for easy access by the operator. When the hoist means6d are positioned over the rearwardmost invert form 24 .as shown inFIGURE 4 they are used to lift and collapse the invert form to thecarrying position 24 as explained hereinbefore. This collapsed invertform 24 is then moved forwardly on the needle beam means .12 until it ispositioned forwardly of the traveler means 10 .as shown in FIGURE 6. Theinvert form is then expanded and placed in the forward part of thetunnel 16. One section of the arch form 26 is then collapsed andsupported on the traveler means 10 as explained hereinbefore and thetraveler means 10 is moved forwardly on the tracks 42 of the newly-laidinvert 24. The hoist means 62 are then moved rearwardly again to pick upthe next rearwardmost invert form 24 and collapse the same, move itforwardly and reposition it in front of the traveler means It) as beforedescribed. The traveler means 10 is then again moved forwardly and thecollapsed arch form 26' is repositioned at the forward end of the tunnel16. The arch forms 26 are preferably twice as long as the invert forms24 so that when one arch form has been repositioned the full round formwill be provided for placing the concrete 113 in the space 114- betweenthe outer wall of the forms 24 and 26 and the inner wall of the recentlydug out earth 18. This procedure is repeated until the entire portion ofthe tunnel recently mined has been concreted. Then the mining operationis resumed and a new portion of the tunnel 16 is begun. By this methodthe apparatus provided herein can be used for both the mining and muckremoving operation and the form laying and concreting operation.

It will now be seen that there is herein provided an apparatus forforming tunnels which satisfies all the objectives of the instantinvention and others including many advantages of great practicalutility and commercial importance.

Since many embodiments may be made of the instant inventive concept andsince many modifications may be made of the embodiments hereinbeforeshown and described, it is to be understood that all matter herein is tobe interpreted merely as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

I claim:

1. An apparatus for progressively placing and removing concrete forms ina tunnel opening comprising a plurality of floor sections, said sectionsbeing identical and each including a pair of invert arch form membersarranged in side by side relation with respect to each other andconnected together along their adjacent sides for hinged movement towardand away from each other, a rail extending along each said member fromone end to the other end and disposed in parallel spaced relation withrespect to said adjacent sides, said sections being adapted to be laidin the form of a tunnel with the members of each section in the awayposition and with said sections in end to end abutting relation so thatsaid rails form a continuous trackway along said tunnel form, atunnel-shaped carriage having a forward end and a rearward end, saidcarriage having spaced side walls and a roof extending over the upperends of said side walls, a wheel on the lower end of each of said sidewalls adjacent each end of the latter, said wheels rollably supportingsaid carriage on said trackway when said sections are in the laidposition, an overhead track positioned between said side walls adjacentthe upper ends thereof and extending longitudinally of said carriage,said track being dependingly carried by said roof, and having a portionadjacent one end exteriorly of said forward end of said carriage andhaving a portion adjacent the other end exteriorly of said rearward endof said carriage, and hoist means carried by said track for rollingmovement between said one and other track ends, said means beingoperable to lift each of said sections in turn when on the floor of saidtunnel, fold the members of said section to the toward position,transport said folded section through said carriage from the rearwardend to the forward end, and lower and support said section in a positionadjacent to and above the tunnel floor with said members in the awayposition so as to provide a form for casting concrete between saidsection and the tunnel floor.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1 in which each of said invert archform members is shaped to a segment of a circle.

3. An apparatus for progressively placing and removing concrete forms ina tunnel opening comprising a plurality of floor sections, said sectionsbeing identical and each including a pair of invert arch form membersarranged in side by side relation with respect to each other andconnected together along their adjacent sides for hinged movement towardand away from each other, a rail extending along each said member fromone end to the other end and disposed in parallel spaced relation withrespect to said adjacent sides, said sections being adapted to be laidin the form of a tunnel with the members of each section in the awayposition and with said sections in end to end abutting relation so thatsaid rails form a continuous trackway along said tunnel form, a tunnelshaped carriage having a forward end and a rearward end, said carriagehaving spaced side walls and a roof extending over the upper ends ofsaid side walls, a wheel on the lower end of each of said side wallsadjacent each end of the latter, said wheels rollably supporting saidcarriage on said trackway when said sections are in the laid position,an overhead track positioned between said side walls adjacent the upperends thereof and extending longitudinally of said carriage, said trackbeing dependingly carried by said roof, and having a portion adjacentone end exteriorly of said forward end of said carriage and having aportion adjacent the other end exteriorly of said rearward end of saidcarriage, and hoist means carried by said track for rolling movementbetween said one and other track ends, said means being operable to lifteach of said sections in turn when on the floor of said tunnel, fold themembers of said section to the toward position, transport said foldedsection through said carriage from the rearward end to the forward end,and lower and support said section in a position adjacent to and abovethe tunnel floor with said members in the away position so as to providea form for casting concrete between said section and the tunnel floor, aplurality of wall sections,

said wall sections being identical and each including at least a pair ofupper arch form elements arranged in side by side relation with respectto each other and connected together along their adjacent side edges forhinged movement from collapsed positions to extended positions, meansfor effecting upward and downward movement of said roof relative to saidwheels, said roof being adapted to support thereon a wall section withportions of the the elements thereof exteriorly of said carriage sidewalls when said elements are in the collapsed position, and other hoistmeans on said carriage side walls for shifting said wall sectionelements outwardly toward the walls of said tunnel openingsimultaneously with upward movement of said roof so as to position saidwall section elements in extended position adjacent to and spaced fromthe walls of said tunnel opening to provide another form for castingconcrete between said another form and said tunnel opening wall andbetween said another form and the tunnel opening roof.

4. The apparatus according to claim 3 in which each of said upper archform elements is shaped to a segment of a circle.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,338,237 4/20Mack 6184 1,505,060 8/24 Quayle 6184 1,734,773 11/29 Murray 6143 X1,843,334 2/32 McGrath 61-84 X 2,111,405 3/38 Parker 61-84 2,128,1728/38 Warner et a1. 6184 2,385,251 9/45 Ayers 61-42 2,764,872 10/56 Budd61--84 FOREIGN PATENTS 949,495 2/ 49 France.

EARL I. WITMER, Primary Examiner.

1. AN APPARATUS FOR PROGRESSIVELY PLACING AND REMOVING CONCRETE FORMS INA TUNEL OPENING COMPRISING A PLURALITY OF FLOOR SECTIONS, SAID SECTIONSBEING IDENTICAL AND EACH INCLUDING A PAIR OF INVERT ARCH FORM MEMBERSARRANGED IN SIDE BY SIDE RELATION WITH RESPECT TO EACH OTHER ANDCONNECTED TOGETHER ALONG THEIR ADJACENT SIDES FOR HINGED MOVEMENT TOWARDAND AWAY FROM EACH OTHER, A RAIL EXTENDING ALONG EACH SAID MEMBER FROMONE END TO THE OTHER END AND DISPODED IN PARALLEL SPACED RELATION WITHRESPECT TO SAID ADJACENT SIDES, SAID SECTIONS BEING ADAPTED TO BE LAIDIN THE FORM OF A TUNNEL WITH THE MEMBERS OF EACH SECTION IN THE AWAYPOSITION AND WITH SAID SECTIONS IN END TO END ABUTTING RELATION SO THATSAID RAILS FORM A CONTINUOUS TRACKWAY ALONG SAID TUNNEL FORM, ATUNNEL-SHAPED CARRIAGE HAVING A FORWARD END AND A REARWARD END, SAIDCARRIAGE HAVING SPACED SIDE WALLS AND A ROOF EXTENDING OVER THE UPPERENDS OF SAID SIDE WALLS, A WHEEL ON THE LOWER END OF EACH OF SAID SIDEWALLS ADJACENT EACH END OF THE LATTER, SAID WHEELS ROLLABLY SUPPORTINGSAID CARRIAGE ON SAID TRACKWAY WHEN SAID SECTIONS ARE IN THE LAIDPOSITION, AN OVERHEAD TRACK POSITION BETWEEN SAID SIDE WALLS ADJACENTTHE UPPER ENDS THEREOF OF EXTENDING LONGITUDINALLY OF SAID CARRIAGE,SAID TRACK BEING DEPENDINGLY CARRIED BY SAID ROOF, AND HAVING A PORTIONADJACENT ONE END EXTERIORLY OF SAID FORWARD END OF SAID CARRIAGE ANDHAVING A PORTION ADJACENT THE OTHER END